Monthly Archives: December 2015

I saw the new Star Wars film Tuesday night. I didn’t wait in line for days or hours even. My wife got us tickets through her work so that worked out. I will not spoil it in any way for those who have not seen it so do not worry. I thought I would share some thoughts on the film.

It is very derivative of the first three films. I mean before the prequels in case you thought I meant those three films. It has multiple things from them. It felt like J.J. Abrams had half a script then went cut and paste from the old films. Is this all bad no I don’t think so. Further, I don’t know that younger people who only know the awful prequels might notice it.

I say this as I learned my teenage nephew who loves Star Wars only has seen the prequels. For his age well what can you say they could not compare those films to the original not having seen them. Perhaps, that is good for them.

Now that I seem like a downer about the film am I glad I saw it? Yes very much. Would I see it again? Yes. I saw it on the IMAX at the Air & Space Museum and that really was great for the special effects I will have to say. No it is not an iconic film. No lines that stand out or new characters that will never be forgotten. It has made plenty of money and will continue to do so. I enjoyed the film but it just goes down as good not great. People should always judge for themselves though.

The club I game with has had thin participation this last couple of months with the numerous holidays. I admit I have not always been attending myself. After two weeks of Warhammer 40K which I only have photographs from one week we played a American Revolutionary War game.

The club president had just read up on the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Even though we would not be recreating either of those specific battles we would be using the time period. The club with it’s collection of French and Indian War figures and American Revolution Figures can handle many game sizes.

The club has gamed the French and Indian War for many years using a rules set from a regular club member. In the mid 1990’s I met the person who hosts the club’s games at a game store playing French and Indian war using the rules to be exact. A club member (Rick) will be running a American Revolution War game at Cold Wars (if it still happens) so this was good practice for him with the rules.

Rick was the rebel colonist trying to keep me and my forces from forcing them off the table. I only took photographs of the second half of the game as I forgot I brought a camera. My left flank on the other side of the river made slow progress taking hits from Rick’s artillery. In the center I used an elite skirmish unit to take hits and protect most of my forces. I used an artillery piece and Grendier unit to try and move Rick’s advanced unit away from the fence line.

I wanted to bypass the militia at the fence line on my right and get the left flank unit to get a cross-fire on Rick’s center. I was never really able to do this. My artillery did not hurt Rick’s flank unit enough. I also ended up taking too long moving out Rick’s militia units. They were destroyed though.

(Click photographs for larger images)

Disordered British troops facing the guns

rebel guns in center

colonial right flank

On the British right flank the most action happened as I soften up the colonial forces with fire and then went in with the banonet. It was bloody business but pushed the colonial forces back. I made the mistake after several successful charges of taking on a fresh unit in reserve. Rick shot me up on the way in. The combat got so bad though both are battalions went to wavering strength in the combat.

Highlanders destroyed one militia unit and shoot up the unit behind the stone wall

Even after all the loses of the colonial troops had suffered I had not pushed them off the table by the time the night had ended. It was a fun game though. The second line of troops were going to be pushed by my forces soon but Rick’s artillery which was now destroyed held me up enough. Also placing his Militia units in a place I could not ignore them was smart, it wasted some of my time even though I destroyed them. Not getting a cross-fire at his center also was a large part of the problem for me. If I had done that it would have changed the outcome I think. I really enjoyed the evening as did everyone. (All three of us).

I painted up so more figures as a Christmas gift for my nephew. He is a real Dungeons & Dragon fan as well as Magic the gathering. He has expressed to me how poor the plastic D&D figures they sell look. So I painted some figures for him as a gift.

Several earlier posts have pictures of other figures I have painted for him for Christmas.

I painted some more figures trying to be more creative with basis and figure types. As I don’t paint fantasy figures often this is a chance to be different and experiment as well. I took pictures of all but the final figure which was a dwarf archer when even though I took the most time with his base and stringing his bow. I found I had never strung a bow on an archer before and felt that looked wrong so I did so on this archer. No pictures of the finished product I am afraid. I did photographic some other figures though.

The Orc or Ork whichever way you want to spell it with a scimitar. As they are a fictional character who says what is right in life.

Old Glory Ork

The figure is a masonite base with woodland scenic flex paste covering it. The rock like hill on the base is tin foil folded up and then pasted over and painted. The dirt and rock are from the back yard just glued on. The grass tuft is from Green Line (GL-012 Wildgrasbuschel mix truocken) I bought from Moreland Studios or Secret Weapons I can’t remember which.

Finished figure

Female Elf Thief. The figure was really nice and from the Reaper Pathfinder Miniatures. I tried to paint it like the website had it painted. Not my best work I felt.

Merisiel, Iconic Elf Thief

I realized shortly before painting that I don’t think I had ever painted a female figure before. Lots of soldiers but no females. All the small parts on the armor were difficult to paint.

I used a different base for the figure as well. It is supposed to be a parquet floor from Moreland Studios. I painted it with Citadel Nuln Oil, then a wash of Coates D’Arm Linen. Finally I picked out individual shapes with Foundry Shade for Terracotta. I thought about alternating between Terracotta Shade and Terracotta Light to get even more of an interesting effect. Even with a magnifying lens and a small brush it was difficult to control the paint. The base looks better at a distance than up close I think. I would not use a wash of linen if I was to do it again. Still as I have more of the bases I will try something else with it next time.

Base with first coat

With Terracotta shapes

From a distance the figure and base look better than up close. I guess kind of like wargaming standard painting.

figure on base

The final figure which looked best I did not photograph. As these are gifts they were wrapped up and given. They seemed to be a hit. They also provided me experience as I dealt with some new companies and tried some new things painting wise. I have some other fantasy figures but I am going to try to take a break from them or at least not make them a priority. Perhaps it would be good to get back to soldiers for a while.